Refrigerated cabinet



Aug. 1, 1939. s. v. SWANSON REFRIGERATED CABINET Filed July 15,.1938 4 Sheets-Sheet l fiaezz/or: 5 0 W 5804728072.. F] a %1,44 15 s. v. swANsoN REFRIGERATED CABINET Aug. 1, 1939.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 15, 1958 5a fiver? y Swmzsvrz 1 oHHl "nuHhI I I."

Allg- 1, 1939- s. v. swANsoN 2,168,007

REFRIGERATED CABINET Filed July 15, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 g? j 0e]? V 5504223072.

Patented Aug. 1, 1939 UNITED STATES 2,168,007 nnrarecaa'mn CABINET Sven V. Swanson, Forest Park, Ill., assignor. to Refrigeration Appliances, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application July 15, 1938, Serial No. 219,347

Claims.

erated equipment which are provided with cool- 2 ing units through which air is circulated for cool- ..ing' the compartment of the cabinet, refrigerator or similar equipment and has reference more particularly to the incorporation of the cooling units in the cabinet or refrigerator or compartment walls. ties for uniform distribution of the cooled air throughout the space to be cooled and for prevention of moisture particles being carried by the circulated air into the space to be cooled.

The principal objects of this invention are to provide an improved refrigerated cabinet or the like which is particularly adaptable for display of its contents; to incorporate the cooling units in the walls of the space to be cooled in a compact manner so as to economize space, simplify the construction and improve the appearance of the cabinet or the like; to insure uniform distribution of the cooled air throughout the conipartment; and to avoid circulation of moisture particles into the compartment, these and other objects being accomplished as hereinafter pointed out and as disclosed in the illustrative embodiments of the accompanying drawings in which;

Fig. 1 is a front view of a display cabinet constructed in accordance with this invention, a portion. at one end being broken away to show in section details of the construction;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are detail sectional views on the lines 33 and 4-4 respectively of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a front view of another form of cabinet constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view thereof on the line 66 of Fig. 5; t

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional l| of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2-8 of Fig. '7 with a portion of the rear wall broken away to disclose details.

Referring to the cabinet of Figs. 1 and 2, said cabinet has a top wall ill, a bottom wall ll, front and rear walls l2 and l3 respectively and hollow end walls l4, all of which said walls'are insulated The invention also includes faciliview on the line ner wall portion it; between which said wall portions is a space l9throu'gh whiclr'the compartment air is circulated in contact with a cooling unit by which the compartment air is cooled. 5 The front wall I2 is composed of upper and lower sections 2| and 22 respectively, the latter .of which is preferably vertical and has a pair of doors 23 hinged at 24 to provide access to the lower portion of the compartment, these doors being of double glass construction as indicated at 25. The other front wall section 2| slopes rearwardly as shown in Fig. 2 and has glass doors 26 for display of the cabinet contents and which are slidable in channels 2! to permit access to the interior at any place along the length of the compartment.

The top wall Ill overhangs the sloping front section 2| as shown at 28 in Fig. 2 and this overa hanging portion has an illumination recess in the under side containing lamps- 29, the light from which is directed by a' reflector 30 downwardly through the glass front 26 into the interior of the cabinet. f

The inner portion l8 of each hollow end wall I4 terminates at a distance above the compart' ment floor II as indicated at 3| to provide an opening 32 between said wall portion l8 and the floor I l for air circulation, and each wall portion I8 also has an opening 33 at the top in which is mounted a; fan 34 operated by an electric motor 35 to withdraw air from the compartment and circulatesame downwardly through the'space l9 'and return same to the compartment l6 through the respective opening 32. The wall portion I8 is preferably divided at 36 into upper and lower sections 31 and'38' respectively, each consisting of a vmetal'plate' which-is detachably secured in place in any convenient manner, as for example to-flanges of angle-irons 39'bn' the front and rearwalls of the cabinet, to permit convenient access to the end wall space l9 and curved deflectors 40 and 4! are provided at the upper and lower ends respectively of each air space l9 to direct the air downwardly. into the air space l9 at the upper end and outwardly through the opening 32 at the bottom For mounting the fan 34 and motor 35 a strap 42 is secured at its opposite ends to the respective plate 31 so as to extend diametrically across the opening 33 and at the opening is offset as shown in Fig. 3 for attachment tothe rear end of the motor 35 as at 43, and the fan 34, which projects into the compartment I6, preferably is enclosed by an annular band 44 which is secured in place by brackets attached to the motor mounting strap 42 and other brackets 46 which are secured directly to the plate 31. The inner end of the fan enclosure 44 and the opening 32 at the bottom of the wall portion I8 are preferably covered by screens 41 and 48 respectively and the lower screen 48 is preferably of a suitable mesh to afford sufficiently intimate contact with the air passing therethrough to prevent moisture particles from being carried by the circulating air into compartment 16. I

The cooling unit 26 is of conventional type, consisting of a series of tubes with fins thereon, such as commonly employed for refrigerating purposes to which compressed and liquefied refrigerant is supplied through an inlet pipe 46 and an expansion valve (not shown), a return pipe 50 being provided from the cooling unit to the compressor of the refrigerating system.

In the lower portion of the compartment I6 upper and lower slatted decks 5i and 52 respectively are provided which extend from end to end of the compartment l6 and substantially across same and serve not only as shelves on which to support articles in the compartment but also to spread the incoming cooled air from the openings 32 throughout the bottom of the compartment and insure uniformcirculation thereof upwardly at all places in the compartment.

The upper deck 5| is located above the openings 32 as shown and has slats 53 which are secured to cleats 54 and extend from end to end of the I compartment, and the ends of the slats 53 rest on supporting strips 55 which are secured at their ends to the front and rear walls of the compartment. The lower deck 52 is located near the bottom ll of the compartment and preferably has the slats 56 thereof extending from front to rear and secured at their ends to strips 51 which have legs 58 at suitable intervals which rest on the compartment bottom and support the deck 52 at the desired elevation.

The portion of the compartment above the deck 5| is provided with any desired number of shelves 59 preferably of wire type for free circulation of air and these shelves may be supported at their ends on angle irons 60 secured to the end wall plates 38 or in any other convenient manner.

In operation compressed refrigerant is supplied through the inlet pipes 49 from a suitable source to the coils of the cooling units 20, each under the control of the usual expansion valve and the fans 34 at the opposite ends of the compartment by their operation remove air from the top of the compartment l6 and circulate the withdrawn air downwardly through the end wall spaces 19 in contact with the respective cooling unit 20 and return the cooled air through the screened openings 32 to the bottom of the compartment 16, the

screens 48 serving as the air passes therethrough to remove moisture particles therefrom. This returned air is directed from each opening 32 toward the opposite end of the compartment and this incoming direction of supply tends to distribute the cooled air throughout the length of the compartment at the bottom.

Moreover, such distribution is further insured by the slotted decks 5| and 52 which provide zones thereunder in which the incoming air is suflicient- 1y confined to insure spreading thereof throughout the lower portion of the compartment l6 with the openings between the slats of these decks and along the sides thereof serving to insure such distribution of cooled air from these zones that uniform cooling of the compartment space above these decks is assured.

In the cabinet of Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive, which may be of large walk-in type suitable for preservation, display or storage of merchandise, for 5 exampleflowers, the top, bottom, front, back and end walls 6|,62, 63, 64 and 65 respectively are insulated in a customary manner as at 66, and the front wall 63 has a double glass window 61 and two doors 68 with double glass panels.

The cooling unit 69 is located in the back wall of the cabinet, said wall having a vertical recess 10 therein containing the cooling unit and this recess is closed at the front by the back wall lining plate I I. A pair of annularly enclosed fans 12 operated by motors 13 are provided in screened openings 14 at the upper end of the recess or air space 10 to withdraw air from the top of the cabinet compartment 15 and an opening 16 is provided from the air space 10 at the floor of the compartment through which said opening the withdrawn air is returned to the compartment 15 after passing in contact with the cooling unit 69, this opening 16 preferably being covered with a screen 11 to remove moisture particles from the air passing therethrough.

A slatted floor 18 is provided in the compartment 15 composed of laterally spaced slats 16 extending from front to back and secured at their ends to strips 86 with legs or supports 81 at suitable intervals along these strips to hold the slatted fioor at an elevation above the compartment bottom, and the opening 16 from the air space 10 is arranged to discharge under this slatted floor. Thus a. zone is provided between the slatted floor and the bottom of the compartment in which the incoming air from the open-. ing 16 is spread out at the bottom of the compartment and the openings between the slats and around the margin of the slatted floor are suitably proportioned to insure a uniform distribution of the cooled air from this zone throughout the compartment space thereabove.

The air space 16 may be of uniform width from top to'bottom as indicated by dotted lines at 82 in Fig. 8 in which case the opening 16 therefrom may be of the same width but I prefer to flare the air space 10 below the cooling unit 68 as indicated at 83 to the full length of the compartment and in such case the opening 16 preferably extends the full length of the compartment. Moreover, I prefer to provide spreaders 84 as shown in Fig. 8 in the flared portion of the air space 10 to distribute the outflow of air from the cooling unit along the opening 16 and thus insure substantially equalized introduction of cooled air at low velocity along the length of the spreader zone under the slatted floor 18.

While I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form I am aware that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from .the principles of my invention, the scope of which is to be determined by the appended claims. 4

I claim as my invention:

1. An enclosure of the class described having top, bottom and upright walls forming a cooling compartment, one of said upright walls having therein an air space separated from the compartment and with upper and lower openings thereto from the top and bottom respectively of the compartment, a blower operable to circulate air from the compartment downwardly through said air space from the upper opening to the lower opening thereof, and a cooling unit within 1 the air space in the path of air circulation therein, said compartment being divided at the bottom to provide an air space with which said lower opening communicates andsaid air space being of substantially the same area as the compartment and having openings atthe top substantially uniformly distributed throughout the area thereof and leading from said air space into the compartment space thereabove.

2. An enclosure of the class described having top, bottom and upright walls forming a cooling compartment, one of said upright walls having therein an air space separated from the compartment and with upper and lower openings thereto from the top and bottom respectively of the compartment, a blower operable to circulate air from the compartment downwardly through said air space from the upper opening to the lower opening thereof, a cooling unit within the air space in the path of air circulation therein and spreading means through which the air from the cooling unit passes and by which it is distributed over the bottom of the compartment, said compartment being divided at the bottom to provide an air space with which said lower opening communicates and said air space being of substantially the same area as the compartment and having openings at the top substantially uniformly distributed throughout the area thereof and leading from said air space into the compartment space thereabove.

3. An enclosure of the class described having top, bottom and upright walls forming a cooling compartment, one of said upright walls having therein an air space separated from the compartment and with upper and lower openings thereto from the top and bottom respectively of the compartment, a blower operable to circulate air from the compartment downwardly through said air space from the upper opening to the lower opening thereof, a cooling unit within the air space in the path of air circulation therein, and means in the compartment forming at the bottom thereof a free unobstructed entrance zone with which the lower opening of said air space communicates, and said zone being of substantially the same area as the compartment and having openings at the top uniformly distributed throughout the area thereof and leading from said zone into the compartmentspace thereabove.

4. An enclosure of the class described having top, bottom and upright walls forming a cooling compartment, one of said upright walls having therein an air space separated from the compartment and with upper and lower openings thereto from the top and bottom respectively of the compartment, a blower operable to circulate air from the compartment downwardly through said air space from the upper opening to the lower opening thereof, a cooling unit within the air space in the path of air circulation therein and a deck in the compartment and spaced above the bottom to provide between the deck and bottom a free unobstructed zone with which the lower opening of said air space communicates, said zone being of substantially the same area as the compartment and having openings at the top uniformly distributed 1 throughout 'the area thereof and leading from said zoneinto the compartment space thereabove.

5. An enclosure of the class described having top, bottom and upright walls forming a cooling compartment, one of said upright walls having therein an air space separated from the compartment and with upper and lower openings thereto from the top and bottom respectively of the compartment, a blower operable to circulate air from the compartment downwardly through said air space from the upper opening to the lower opening thereof, a cooling unit within the air space in the path of air circulation therein and means in the compartment forming at the bottomvthereof an entrance zone with which the lower opening 'of said air space communicates, said zone being of substantially the same area as the compartment and having openings at the top uniformly distributed throughout the area thereof and leading from said zone into the compartment space thereabove, said cabinet having a wall thereof provided with doors through which the compartment spaces above and below said means are separately accessible.

6. An elongated enclosure of the class described with top, bottom, front and back and two end walls, said end walls each having therein an air space separated from the compartment and with upper and lower openings thereto from the top and bottom respectively of the compartment, and blower means operable tocirculate air from the compartment downwardly through each air space from the upper opening thereof to the lower opening thereof, each said air space having a cooling unittherein in the path of air circulation therethrough and the front wall of the cabinet having portions through which the compartment contents are visible and. doors through which the compartment contents are accessible.

7. An enclosure of'the class described withtop and bottom walls and surroimding upright walls forming a cooling compartment, one of said upright walls having therein a by-pass leading from the upper portion of the compartment to the lower portion thereof, a blower operable to circulate air downwardly through the by-pass and a cooling unit in the by-pass in the path of air circulation therein, said by-pass having a flared outlet at the bottom substantially coextensive with the width of the wall in which the by-pass is located, said compartment being divided at the bottom to provide an air space with which said lower opening communicates and said air space being of substantially the same area as the compartment and having openings at the top substantially uniformly distributed throughout the area thereof and leading from said air space into the compartment space thereabove.

8. An enclosure of the class described with top and bottom walls and surrounding upright walls forming a cooling compartment, one of said upright walls having therein a by-pass leading from the upper portion of the compartment to the lower portion thereof, a blower operable to circulate air downwardly through the by-pass and a cooling unit in the by-passlin the path of air circulation therein, said compartment having therein a deck with openings therethrough and spaced from the bottom wall, said by-pass having a flared outlet at the bottom substantially coextensive with the width of the wall in which the by-pass is located and opening into the space under the said deck, said space being substantially the same area as the compartment and said deck having openings therethrough substantially uniformly distributed throughout the area thereof which lead from said space into the compartment space thereabove.

9. An enclosure of the class described with top and bottom walls and surrounding upright upright walls having therein a by-pass leading from the upper portion of the compartment to the lower portion thereof, a blower operable to circulate air downwardly through the by-pass and a cooling unit in the by-pass in the path of air circulation therein, said compartment having a slatted deck-therein spaced from the bottom wall and said by-pass having a. flared outlet at the bottom substantially coextensive with the width of the wall in which the by-pass is located and opening into the compartment under the said slatted deck, and said flared outlet having spreading means therein arranged to distribute the air from the cooling unit throughout the width of said wall in which the by-pass is located, said deck being of substantially the same area as the compartment and, having openings therethrough substantially uniformly distributed throughout the area thereof throughwhich thespace below said deck communicates with the compartment space thereabove.

10. An enclosure of the class described with top and bottom walls and surrounding upright walls forming a cooling compartment, one of said upright. walls having therein a by-pass leading from theupper portion of the compartment to the lower portion thereof, a blower operable to circulate air downwardly through the by-pass and a cooling unit in the by-pass in the path of air circulation therein, said compartment having a slatted deck therein spaced from the bottom wall and said by-pass having a flared outlet at the bottom substantially coextensive with the width of the wall in which the by-pass is located and opening into the compartment under the said slatted deck, and said flared outlet having spreading means therein arranged to distribute the air from the cooling unit. throughout the width of said wall in which the by-pass is located, said cabinet having the wall thereof opposite the wall which contains the by-pass provided with transparent portions through which the compartment contents are visible and provided with doors through which the compartment contents are accessible.

SVEN V. SWANSON. 

